Blast off: Humboldt B-52s offer another summer collegiate baseball program in Humboldt County

Spencer Duggan was bombarded by a simple question that did not have a simple answer.

"Well, basically, I was coaching at CR this year and all the guys were asking me where they could play summer ball," he said.

Serving as an assistant coach on the College of the Redwoods baseball team's staff, Duggan knew that inquiry would come. Answering it, however, wasn't easy. There was only one local option Duggan could provide: The longstanding Humboldt Crabs.

"I didn't have the summer baseball connections anymore," he began. "I played for the Steelheads for three years, one year with the Crabs. They are more of a Division I-than-local guys these days. We have seven or eight guys good enough to play on the Crabs at CR and the Crabs took two."

So, instead of lamenting on the fact there were no other options, Duggan and others got together and made one: The Humboldt B-52s.

"We wanted to help create a team so guys could stay here and play and not go elsewhere," Duggan explained. "We wanted to have a place for guys here and for other kids to come here for the summer and get better at baseball.

"We're trying to influence kids to stop playing video games and play baseball for hours a day."

The B-52s, a summer wood bat squad, will be managed by Scott St. John with Zach Smith assisting. Brad Johnson will serve as assistant coach and statistician. The creation of the team also harkens on another issue.

"For most local kids, it's not a realistic goal," Duggan said about making the Humboldt Crabs roster. "I can count on one hand how many local kids played and started for the Crabs in meaningful games. Kids can maybe say 'Hey, I can play for the B-52 Bombers.'

"If you're not that good, we'll try to get you better. If you're good, we want you on the team. And this is nothing against the Crabs. When I was 15 and 16 years old, I went from wanting to play for the Crabs and then wanting to play for the Steelheads."

Duggan, who will suit up for the B-52s, did play one season with the Crabbies and won the team's MVP award in 2012. His time and performance at National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Bellevue University helped land Duggan a spot on the roster.

Another former Crab is scheduled to join the Bombers when the season kicks off Friday night against the visiting Fairfield Indians at the Arcata Ball Park is Drew Bradshaw. The former San Jose State Spartan and Crabbie is no stranger to the ballpark.

Duggan says fans can expect other quality players to don the B-52 uniform this season.

"We've got seven CR guys, two guys that will be attending CR next year, a catcher from Mendocino College and one or two players from Feather River. Basically, a lot of junior college guys," he said. "The older influence will come from Drew Bradshaw, Zach O'Hanen, myself and Jeff Giacomini. We're the older veterans.

"But we've got 19 guys committed who have signed contracts. We're looking to bring five more in."

Duggan knows the first thing that will come to people's mind is this squad is a revival of the Humboldt Steelheads program which folded in the summer of 2013.

"There's not a lot of similarities," Duggan said. "The Steelheads was kind of a free-for-all. We thought about getting the old Steelheads uniform back, but we didn't want to be lumped in with that. But the Steelheads were great. It made me a better player."

Duggan is hoping athletes will say the same about the B-52s down the road.

"We're just trying to give the community more baseball," Duggan said. "I remember as a kid when the Steelheads, Eels, Humboldt State and the Crabs had a tournament. We knew who the frontrunner was but, it was still fun."

THE NAME

How exactly did Humboldt get the B-52s moniker?

"We were basically just sitting around and talking about every possible name in the book," Duggan said. "Giaco said the Bayside Bombers. I like alliteration but Bombers sounds like we're 12 years old. We thought B-52 Bombers and it had a minor-league feel to it. We took a vote and everyone liked it.

"We're the Bomb Squad. We're going to get an air raid sirens when we hit a home run. But, I've got to go through all the Love Shack comments ..."

Duggan was of course referring to the hit song by the musical group of the same name.

ON TAP

Duggan said the B-52s have 19 dates set at the Arcata Ball Park and have 24 total games on the schedule. The team is discussing where to play the other games with McKinleyville High as an option.

The B-52s are not scheduled to play the Crabs this season due to their relative newness to the summer baseball scene. If the Bombers are successful, Duggan hopes to see a B-52s-Crabs matchup in the future.

"We gotten mixed reviews from the Crabs," Duggan said. "I don't understand why they are not happy. If we played, they should be happy because that's 2,000 fans there watching us play."